Monday, March 28, 2011

Republicans Going After Voters

Today on WOSU radio, fill-in host, Mike Thompson, conducted a call-in show featuring  Republican Ohio House Speaker Pro Tempore Louis Blessing, Jr. and Democrat Ohio House Minority Leader Rep. Armond Budish, as they discussed a Republican bill that would require a photo ID to vote in Ohio.

As I listened in my car, I noticed a few things that made me angry.  Republican Blessing used the words "segregated out" when referring to part of the bill.  He also referred to polls which showed support for this bill. (In my humble opinion, polls with a right-leaning focus are not necessarily guides that I look to for facts.)  Blessing also kept pointing to some anecdotal evidence that Republican Amy Searcy found in talking to random people in Hamilton County about requiring photo ID's for voting.  Anecdotal stories are not proof or evidence.  Right now I could go find ten people on my street that don't support this right wing move to suppress voting rights.

Despite the fact that groups like the AARP, the NAACP, and the League of Women Voters have voiced their opposition to this attack on voting rights, the Republicans are pushing through this ill- advised plan as quickly as possible.  The Republicans are the same people that brought us voting irregularities in previous elections. Now they are trying to cut out voters who might not be able to pay for a state issued vote ID.  Instead of working on bringing jobs to Ohio, Kasich and his Republican sheeple are doing their part to limit which people can vote.

Where are the jobs?

If you'd like to listen to the program, it is available below or at the Ohio Channel.